According to an industry association, as many as 300,000 sets of cremated remains are currently unclaimed at funeral homes throughout the UK.
The National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) provided this estimate in response to a consultation initiated by the Law Commission, which is looking to implement significant changes to burial and cremation laws in England and Wales.
Matthew Uden, who manages W. Uden and Sons, indicated that his funeral homes in south London are storing the unclaimed ashes of around 200 individuals, some of which date back to the 1960s.
The Law Commission suggests that if a funeral director has not received any communication from the deceased’s next of kin within four weeks, they should be permitted to return the ashes to the crematorium.
It has been proposed that this potential legislation be applied retroactively so that it encompasses all ashes accumulated by funeral directors over the years.
Rachel Bradburne, the NAFD’s director of external affairs, emphasized the need for effective measures to prevent a future backlog, stating, “We need to implement a system to ensure this issue does not persist, and the Law Commission’s recommendation appears very reasonable.”
She further highlighted that an additional strategy is essential to tackle the legacy of unclaimed ashes, referring to them as “legacy ashes.”
Possible solutions mentioned include organizing “mass scatterings” or events specifically designed to manage the proper dispersal of these remains.
One of the oldest sets of ashes at Mr. Uden’s funeral home belongs to 68-year-old Elsie Elanor Agnes Emler, who passed away on April 15, 1965, at Farnborough Hospital in Kent.
Besides the Certificate of Cremation, no other records exist regarding her or any identified family contact.
When queried about the high number of unclaimed ashes, Mr. Uden remarked, “I believe the primary reason is that families often feel uncertain about how to handle them.
“They may lack a clear plan or direction on what to do with their loved one’s cremated remains.
“As a result, they tend to push it to the back of their minds and wish to forget about it. Over time, they come to the conclusion that it might be best to leave them with the funeral directors.”
